Airbus Renames Bombardier C Series Aircrafts To The A220 Family

With the Airbus and Bombardier Aerospace C Series deal closed, the CS100 and CS300 names are changed to A220-100 and A220-300 to form the new A220 family of aircrafts. In addition, JetBlue Airways announced a mega deal to purchase 60 A220-300 aircrafts to become an all Airbus shop in the future.

Airbus A220 Family

With the Airbus and Bombardier Aerospace C Series deal closed, the CS100 and CS300 names are changed to A220-100 and A220-300 to form the A220 Family of aircrafts. These aircrafts will continue to be sold in the underserved market catering to 100-160 passengers (configurable between one and two classes) and a range of up to 3,300 nautical miles or 6,112 kilometers. This allows airlines to operate transcontinental flights in North America. For customers, they will enjoy the comforts of bigger windows, bigger carry bins and higher height than the similar sized Embraer E175/190/195 and Bombardier CRJ700/900 series.

Currently, the biggest operator of the A220 Family aircrafts is Swiss International Air Lines with 23 in service (a mix of A220-100 and A220-300s). Delta Air Lines has the biggest order at 75 aircrafts (all in A220-100 configuration).

Airbus Commerical Aircraft Portfolio

Synergy At Work

The inclusion of the A220 Family in the Airbus commercial jet portfolio has already bared fruits with customers looking for or replacing smaller size aircrafts (80-130 seats in single or dual class). JetBlue Airways which was in the review process of replacing its 60 older Embraer E190 fleet announced on July 10, 2018, that it has ordered 60 A220-300 aircrafts with an option for 60 more. The order with a list price of US$5.4 billion will begin delivery 2020. By 2023, the New York based airline would become the only all Airbus shop in the United States.

Its Chief Financial Officer, Steve Priestey, mentioned that the A220 aircrafts “will reduce the carrier’s cost for each seat mile flown by five percentage points and add about three percentage points to its pretax profit margin”. In announcing the deal, the the airline was able to work with Airbus to convert 25 A320neo to the bigger A321neo variant and deferred delivery of seven A321neos to a later date.

JetBlue Airways Long Term All Airbus Fleet Mix

As at July 9, 2018, 36 of the 516 orders have been delivered to three customers. The order mix is more than 3 to 1 for the bigger A220-300 version. There are also 292 options and 52 purchase rights outstanding.

About Larry Leung and Experience The Skies

Larry Leung is the Director of Research and Strategy at Experience The Skies. He is a certified avgeek, a public speaker and a dessert and design enthusiast. Contact him through LinkedIn or Twitter.

Experience The Skies is a consulting company based in Toronto, Canada that specializes in the travel industry with focus on the assessment, competitive analysis and development of loyalty programs, technologies, marketing, ancillary revenue solutions.Follow Experience The Skies on Twitter, Facebook, Flipboard, and Instagram.